The Beach
by A Raven's Heart
Summary: My own ideas for how things in the Beach could have gone. This part's mostly what actually happened with some 'here's what Ty Lee and Azula where doing when Zuko and Mai were having their issues'. TyLuko, Maiko, and hinted Tyzula.
1. Chapter 1

My own ideas for how things in the Beach could have gone. This part's mostly what actually happened with some 'here's what Ty Lee and Azula where doing when Zuko and Mai were having their issues'. Told from Ty Lee's point of view.

I will tell you all now, this will be Ty Luko. But it will also be hints of Tyzula as well as the obvious, Maiko.

I promise the next chapter won't follow so closely to the actual episode.

Characters belong to Bryke and Nickelodeon.

* * *

Parties. Ty Lee loved parties; she loved the social atmosphere and the ability to interact with so many different people. Of course she and the rest of the group had showed up first so it was a bit boring until more people came, but when they did Ty Lee became the life of the party for some people. She had soon managed to get herself backed into a corner with six guys standing around her asking who she liked more. Looking a little unsure, and not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, she started to talk rapidly. "Look, it doesn't matter who I met first 'cause I like you all." She smiled sweetly, her arms spread out. She was unable to get away with this, though, as one of the ones gathered pressed. "Well which one of us do you 'like'." A couple others piped in, "Yeah." "Tell us." Panicking as she brought her hands up to herself and looking around at them, Ty Lee spoke again, "I don't know, I don't know!" Then she snapped and closed her eyes, taking down all of the men gathered around her. She then cart wheeled away from them and over to Azula, who wasn't looking too happy.

"Oh, I'm glad you're here, those boys won't leave me alone!" She exclaimed, looking much more relaxed than a few moments ago. "I guess they all just like me too much." She shrugged and looked off to the side. Azula frowned and rolled her eyes, "Come on Ty Lee, you can't be this ignorant." Frowning slightly herself, Ty Lee spoke, "What are you talking about?" Arms folded across her chest, the Fire Nation princess spoke again. "Those boys only like you because you make it too easy for them. You're not a challenge, you're a tease. It's not like they actually care who you are." This brought tears to the acrobat's face, then she just started to break down and cry, putting her hands up to her face.

For once, Azula felt bad about what she said and moved forward, grabbing Ty Lee's wrists and pulling them away from her face as she spoke. "Okay, okay, calm down. I didn't mean what I said." The princess released the other girl as she continued. "Look, maybe I just said it because I was a little…" She struggled with the word, not really wanting to say it. Then she brought her hand up to her mouth and whispered it, "Jealous." Ty Lee instantly perked up, looking totally surprised. "What?! You're jealous of me?" Her hands came up to her chest as she spoke, a look of surprise still on her face. "But, you're the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world!" Azula glanced away, "Well you're right about all those things, of course. But for some reason when I meet boys, they act as if I'm going to do something horrible to them." The young acrobat closed her eyes a bit as she giggled at her friend's words. "But you probably would do something horrible to them." She opened her eyes and looked back up at Azula then the princess brought her attentions back. "I'm sure they're just intimidated by you. Okay, look, if you want a boy to like you, just look at him and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says even if it's not funny." She said with a rather large grin.

"Well that sounds really shallow and stupid… let's try it!" Azula actually perked up at the thought. Ty Lee got right into the part immediately, "Okay. Hey there sweet sugar cakes, how you likin' this party?" A giant and somewhat creepy look crossed Azula's face as an eerie laugh reverberated in the room. Silence settled over the room for a minute and Ty Lee stifled a laugh. They practiced a bit more, Ty Lee really enjoying the interaction with Azula – usually she didn't get this much attention from her on a one on one basis, and certainly nothing this calm and conversational – well, what they were doing sort of passed as conversation. Finally confident, Azula left the young acrobat to go and talk to Chan and get a tour of the house.

Looking around, she spotted Mai sitting alone. About to go talk to her, she saw Ruon-Jian go over and start talking to her. Making a bit of a face, she looked around to see where Zuko was. She had noticed how protective he had seemed to be of Mai lately. Why, she wasn't sure. If you loved someone and they loved you, why would you have to worry about them? Ty Lee just didn't get it, and decided to leave the situation be and see if she could stalk Azula and find out how it was going. She got close to the door to the balcony to see Chan come rushing back in. Peering around the door, she spotted an upset looking Azula. Not wanting to leave her friend alone in this situation, she came out onto the balcony and stood next to the princess. "You okay Azula?" The princess didn't respond, just looking away. "Well, it doesn't work on every guy, besides; he seems really shallow and stupid." She quipped, trying to cheer Azula up. It worked enough to get the princess to look at her friend. "Look, maybe we should get your brother and Mai and leave? This party's getting boring anyway." Azula didn't respond and Ty Lee sighed, giving up and going inside.

She came in just in time to see Zuko flip out and push Ruon-Jian into a vase on the other side of the room. Her jaw dropped when Mai said it was over and she started to rush over, but stopped when Chan went rushing past her because of the vase. A frown spread across her dainty features as she watched Zuko leave, slamming the door behind himself. She was about to rush out of the party to help him when someone caught her arm. Turning around quickly, she saw it was Azula. "Let him go." Her posture dropping slightly, she agreed and followed Azula over to Mai. "Come on, I have an idea." She said once Mai was within hearing distance and the trio departed from the party.


	2. Chapter 2

Still told from Ty Lee's point of view.

This one really deviates from the episode, but I'm fairly happy with how it turned out.

Characters are still not mine.

* * *

"So where are we going Azula?" Ty Lee asked when the silence got to her. "Have patience, we're almost there." The princess quipped back at her friend as they all walked along the sand. Mai didn't seem too happy about coming, and Azula had a look of determination on her face. Ty Lee's gaze was on the ground, at the footprints that were in front of them. Azula seemed to know exactly where they would lead, and had the other two girls wait at a gathering of rocks as she continued along the path her brother had taken. "Are you okay?" Ty Lee finally as one Azula was gone. Mai looked at her friend, but didn't say anything. If there was something that Mai was always good it, it was hiding her emotions. It made her give off this rather depressing aura that Ty Lee hated, even if she didn't admit it to anyone. Silently, she agreed with Zuko's assessment of Mai being a "big blah".

Then Azula and Zuko appeared around a large group of rocks. Mai seemed to perk up slightly, but when Zuko snapped at her, she frowned and looked away from him again. Ty Lee watched in confusion as Zuko then tried to be nice to her again. "Are you cold?" He started to put his arm around her, only to have his hand smacked away. Trying to lighten the mood only slightly, the acrobat spoke up. "I'm freezing." She didn't get the answer that she subconsciously realized she had wished for. All the young gymnast got was "I'll make a fire." And a somewhat pleasant smile from him. What he said next, though made her frown. "There's plenty of stuff to burn in there." He was talking about his family's old house, and Ty Lee looked a bit sad and as Zuko walked away to head up there and get their kindle, she jumped up and followed him. "I'll help!" The prince shrugged and allowed her to follow, leaving Mai and Azula to sit alone in the dark until they got back.

Just before they got out of earshot, Ty Lee heard Azula ask Mai a question and held in a giggle at it. The princess was still looking for advice, clearly, and Ty Lee held back a laugh at the one being asked the question – Mai wasn't exactly her first choice for advice.

Despite Azula's plan for how this would all work, Ty Lee decided to take matters into her own hands. "Zuko? What's wrong?" He stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. "What do you mean?" "I mean what's wrong? I've never seen your aura so dark before, are you that upset with Mai?" He sighed and shook his head, turning away from her and continuing on into the house. "Then who are you upset with, Zuko? Me? Your sister?" "No." He replied coldly as he stopped in front of the painting of his family, reaching up to take it down. The thought of something like that becoming kindle brought tears to the acrobat and she jabbed Zuko at various points on his body, quickly and expertly. He collapsed back onto her and she helped him to the ground so he wouldn't hurt himself. Anger crossed his features as he growled at her, "What did you do that for?!" She was kneeling next to him, frowning. "It's a painting of your family."

"Does it look like I care?!" He snapped back at her, groaning as he tried to move his limbs. "I think you do care – it's your family." The attacks she had made on him weren't bad and he was slowly starting to get feeling back in his limbs as he laid on the floor with the gymnast leaning over him. "Why does it matter to you?" He asked his voice not as harsh or strained. "Because I know you, Zuko, and you care. Even if your father doesn't care about you, your mother disappeared, and your sister is a monster – I think you care." "You don't know me." He glared and looked away from her. Tears ran down her face, "I do know you." "No, you want to know why I don't care? Because they're not my family, Uncle is." He finally spit out after several long moments of silence. Ty Lee looked surprised by this, and also the fact that he had recovered pretty quickly and was getting up. She hopped up and helped him, but stood between him and the painting. "I still don't think you should burn it, it's not right."

Zuko shook his head and pushed past her anyway, pulling the painting down and staring at it for a few moments. Tears welled up in Ty Lee's eyes as she watched him. "Please Zuko, don't do it. Please." He shot a glare at her, then turned sharply and walked away from her. "Why did you come?" He asked coldly. "Because I care about you, Zuko." She said quietly, almost meekly, but it made the prince stop in his tracks. "What?" "I care about you; you haven't been the same since you came back." He sighed, "I'm not the same person I was when I left." Making a face, Ty Lee spoke again, "Of course you're not, you were gone for three years. But do you really love Mai?" A look of shock crossed her own face at her words and she instantly smacked her hands over her mouth. He turned around, a look of surprise also on his face. "Ty Lee… I, I don't know."

Sucking in a deep breath, she regained more confidence in herself, just rolling with what she had started. "Well, it's just – you don't seem to trust her. It seems to me, you should be able to trust the one you love." She looked off to the side a little meekly, and Zuko moved closer to her, surprised to hear all this coming from the young acrobat. "What are you trying to say?" He asked, watching her closely. She responded pretty quickly, looking up to him. "Maybe it's just time to move on. I think you're only with her to try and get the past back, well it's not coming back Zuko, and you need to just move on if you're not happy with her." Tears pushed at the back of her eyes, but she managed to hold them at bay for at least a short time.

"It's not that easy." He responded, starting to turn away. Jumping forward, Ty Lee stopped him from turning and planted her lips firmly on his, her hands gently resting on his cheeks. She broke the kiss and whispered, her voice a little shaky, "Yes it is." Despite being slightly surprised, he still pulled her into an embrace and returned her gesture. After a moment, he broke away and stepped back from the acrobat, a hand going up to his head. "No, I don't know. I, I don't think I can do this." Shaking his head he turned and ran down the stairs and back toward the beach. Upset by this turn of events, Ty Lee charged after him, but took her own path to the beach, getting there first and sitting in the sand between Azula and Mai. Zuko had slowed down when he noted she had followed him, so it took him a bit longer to arrive and in the mean time Azula and Mai both looked at their friend. The princess spoke first, "Well Ty Lee, what took you so long?" Blushing, she looked away, "Nothing." Mai narrowed her eyes at the usually cheery girl and shook her head. "I can't believe you, Ty Lee." About to try and explain more, Ty Lee was cut off when Zuko arrived with the painting. Letting out a sigh, she let the fact go that he was burning his family's painting and remained silent.


	3. Chapter 3

Still Ty Lee's point of view.

Short, sweet, and to the point.

Characters are still not mine.

* * *

No one said anything for a while; Zuko stood away from them once he had started the fire and stared at the water. Everyone's aura was pretty depressing to Ty Lee and she wondered what she could possibly do about it. She already had an idea what was up with Zuko, but didn't want to say anything and also wanted to allow Azula the chance for her plan to work. Finally she spoke, "Everyone's auras are so dingy and grey, especially yours Mai, you need to lighten up a bit." She said looking over at the black haired girl who just rolled her eyes. "I don't believe in auras." This got Zuko to turn and come over, speaking directly at Mai. "Yeah, you don't believe in anything." Mai snorted, "Oh well, sorry I can't be as high strung and crazy as the rest of you." "I'm sorry too," Zuko said as he started to walk closer to the group. "I wish you would be high strung and crazy for once, instead of keeping all your feelings bottled up inside. She just called your aura dingy, are you going to take that?!" His hands clenched into fists to emphasize his words. Mai only sighed and leaned back on the rock she was sitting on, putting her hands behind her head.

"What do you want from me? Some teary confession about how hard my childhood was? Well it wasn't. I was a rich, only child who got anything I wanted… as long as I behaved, and sat still, and didn't speak unless spoken too. My mother said I had to keep out of trouble, we had my father's political career to think about." Finally Azula spoke up, after sitting in silence the whole time. "Well that's it then. You had a controlling mother who had certain expectations and if you strayed from them you were shut down. That's why you're afraid to care about anything and why you can't express yourself." This got Mai's attention and she snapped up, a glare on her features. "You want me to express myself? Leave me alone!" She snapped, shouting in general to the group, but looking directly at Azula. Zuko's features softened slightly as he approached her, "I like it when you express yourself."

Moving away from him quickly, Mai snapped, "Don't touch me! I'm still mad at you." She half growled and started to leave the group. Ty Lee felt absolutely hopeless as she watched all this. She felt bad, thinking back about what had happened just a short while ago at the house, but kept quiet as she watched what happened. "My life hasn't been that easy either Mai." Zuko started, pointing at himself. She rolled her eyes at him, "Yeah, well save it for some other girl – I'm done with you." She said coldly and started to walk away. "That doesn't excuse how you've been acting." Clenching his fists again, Zuko started to respond to her, but she was gone.

"Calm down guys! Mai, come back!" She jumped up to try and chase after her, but was caught by Azula. Zuko went instead and Ty Lee sat down next to Azula. It hadn't gone at all the way Azula planned; she hadn't expected Mai to get so upset. "Hey Ty Lee, want to make this night really fun?" She asked, a smirk dancing across her features. The acrobat nodded vigorously as Azula stood up and grinned, "Then come with me." They left their spot on the beach and headed back toward the party. "Why are we coming back here?" Ty Lee asked. "You'll see." Was all she responded with up until they got to the front door. Once she was filled in, Ty Lee giggled and happily went along with it. The door opened and Azula spoke to Chan. "Got some bad news Chan… party's over." The pair burst in and immediately started to bust up the party.

The look on Chan's face made the night for the two girls as they ransacked the house. Once it was almost completely destroyed, they ran out and down to the beach, giggling and laughing. "Well that was fun, wasn't it?" Azula asked and Ty Lee nodded. As they ran down the beach toward the house they were staying in, Ty Lee, of all people, managed to kick a rock and tumble forward into her friend. The two crashed to the ground, but rather than get upset, Azula just started to laugh. She was in too good a mood after crashing the jerk Chan's party to be upset with Ty Lee. Instead, the two stayed in a heap together on the sand, laughing and carrying on until they decided it was late and they needed to get back to their home and rest.


End file.
